Monday, November 30, 2009

Disgusted

I'm going to own here that I am liberal-ish in my politics; at LEAST a centrist. I vote Liberal here in Canada, and had I been an American citizen, I would have voted for Barack Obama in last year's United States presidential election. Anyone who has read my blog heretofore, knows these things. It is not a secret.

Having said that, I heard mention today of t-shirts and bumper stickers with the following quote:

Thinking OK ... I wonder about this ... I turned to my bible. The quote?

“Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” The next verse goes on to wish that "his children be fatherless, let his wife be a widow".

Let me make this clear - despite being an Obama supporter myself, I know, love and respect many more conservative thinkers than myself. I often take the conservative 'devil's advocate' approach when discussion with my husband and in-laws turns political; just as I feel the need to remind my conservative loved ones there is another side, ditto my more liberal ones. I am accepting of any and all political views, much to the annoyance of friends and family of both stripes sometimes, so long as a coherent and cogent argument can be made.

However, as much damage as George W. Bush's presidency caused over 8 years, I can honestly say that while I wished him impeached, voted out of office, shamed and humiliated and the Republican 'base' buried politically for decades, I never, ever wished him dead (admittedly, in some part because the prospect of a Dick Cheney presidency, and the fallout of a presidential assassination simply scared me more); I recognized if nothing else he was a husband and father with a family, and he nor they deserved that kind of grief. Had anyone issued effectively unveiled threats of death and revolution as many conservatives - and mainstream ones at that - toward him, that would be, rightfully, seen as treasonous.

Disagreement and disapproval of political figures is democracy in action; death threats are not. They are crimes, and should be treated as such. This is absolutely disgusting to me and I believe anyone wearing these shirts, sporting these bumper stickers, or any other similarly veiled threat, needs to at least have a nice little sit-down with some secret-service types about just what the repercussions of threatening the president's life include. Under George Bush, or John McCain had he won last year, the GOP would expect no less. Being sore losers is one thing; it's immature and unbecoming, but allowed. This, on the other hand, is not. And it's time for Democrats to stop playing nice and remind that this kind of extremist language is unacceptable, lest some wingnut somewhere someday take it seriously, and the US's greatest hope in a decade is lost due to not wanting to ruffle feathers. Note: you don't need to suck up to these people. They will not support you anyway. Encourage and allow free speech ... NOT hate speech.